
What is the Nationals were ready to re-tool?
The Washington Nationals managed to overcome a slow start to their 2019 season and come back to become the eventual World Series champions. While they could give it another run with largely the same group in 2021, I wonder if they’d entertain a re-tool under the right circumstances?
The obvious area of interest with the Nationals would be their three-headed monster at the top of their starting rotation. Would they consider splitting it up? Here’s an idea that I pitched to the simulator:
Blue Jays get: (30.6)
Nationals get: (31.6)
- Alek Manoah
- Gabriel Moreno
- Leonardo Jimenez
- Derek Fisher
It’s a steep price for the the Blue Jays to pay, but there’s a strong argument that the deal would be worth it. You’d get the twilight years of a still effective Scherzer, and a long-term solution in centre with Robles.
The Blue Jays would be giving up their #5 (Manoah), #8 (Moreno), and #14 (Jimenez) prospect in the deal, but you’ve gotta give to receive. Fisher is a throw in that could still figure things out, but who knows if the Nationals would take a flyer or not.
The biggest hang-up to this idea may be whether Robles could be part of the equation, but that would certainly get the Blue Jays’ attention. The 23 year old had a tough 2020 campaign and has still yet to fully break out, but there’s a lot of upside to like there.